TDF Stages Archive

It seems inevitable that at some point in a playwright’s career, the imagination will be tugged homeward toward the people, places, and conflicts responsible for shaping the writer. Look at Eugene O’Neill’s plays set in Connecticut, August Wilson’s in Pittsburgh, Horton Foote’s in Texas. Mat Smart, who was born and raised in Naperville, IL, thirty-five […]

By MARK BLANKENSHIP There’s no way to see the entire set of Lost Lake. A slightly surreal cabin in the woods, it’s packed with so many objects that it would take hours to absorb them all. And besides, some elements are only visible to the actors—props and pictures tucked behind curtains or just past the […]

By MARK BLANKENSHIP When you hear about a play called Straight White Men, what do you think it’s going to be? Which cultural and political assumptions do you think it’s going to challenge? Which audience members do you think it’s going to unsettle? Whatever you’re thinking, you’re right: That’s exactly what Young Jean Lee is […]

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Sarah Ruhl’s new play The Oldest Boy may be filled with a sense of cosmic mystery, but there’s one question that’s not mysterious at all.  When the show begins, an American mother is visited by a pair of Buddhist monks who believe her three year-old son, Tenzin, is the reincarnation of their beloved teacher. And […]

By MARK BLANKENSHIP For over 40 years, Mummenschanz has arguably been one of the most reliable sources of all-ages theatre in the world. With their unique style of mask and prop performance—which uses no speech, sound effects, or even music—they create scenes that are both charmingly abstract and recognizably human.  For instance, a creature with […]

By MARK BLANKENSHIP George Bernard Shaw’s Major Barbara may spin your moral compass until you don’t know where you’re standing anymore.  On one hand, it seems impossible to argue with the title character, a Salvation Army worker who’s dedicated to helping the poorest people in London. Barbara is so upright, in fact, that she leaves […]

Chances are you’re familiar with Raymond Scott’s music… you just don’t know it. The 20th-century American electronic music pioneer composed many of what became animation’s most infamous tunes, even though he didn’t write them with Bugs Bunny in mind. Director Jon Levin was humming one of Scott’s melodies, “Powerhouse,” when a friend described how, despite […]

Two days into rehearsals for Lift at 59E59, director John Marshall III got stuck in an elevator. Most people entombed in a metal box might feel alarmed, claustrophobic, or at the very least, concerned. Instead, Marshall was thrilled. “I think the people running the building probably thought I was crazy,” he says. “I’m like, ‘Don’t […]